Old post, I know...but I'm about to get started on brewing my first batch of beer and I'd really like to do an English Bitter. Any suggestions on a good extract recipe?
Cheers!
-E-
Cheers!
-E-
Recipe Request - English Bitter
- Thread starter EBCornell
- Start date
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Are you looking for an Ordinary Bitter or something with a bit more kick? [Szamatulski 1998] has a pretty good recipe for Fuller's ESB (Extra Special Bitter).
References
[Szamatulski 1998] Szamatulski, T., et al. 1998. Clone Brews. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.
I actually live in CT and went to their homebrew store, Maltose Express, yesterday and picked up some gear and their McEwan's Export IPA clone kit. Not exactly a bitter, but it should be awesome. Now I just need to wait for my brew pot to arrive and figure out the directions that came with the kit.
What made you choose the McEwan's?...I believe that kit is from the recipe in the Clonebrews book.
Did you get their extract kit or all grain?
Did you stick with the propagator pack or upgrade to the activator pack?...If you have the propagator pack you'll have to use a starter.
I went with the McEwan's mainly because of homebrew virgin's overwhleming uncertainty and indecsion. That and I like Scottish ales as well as bitters and IPAs. I hope it comes out well.
I thought I was getting an extract kit (that's what I told the guy who helped me I wanted), but now that I've opened it I'm a bit overwhelmed. There's a good sized bag of grains that need to be steeped at 150F for 30 min and then rinsed with more 150F water, etc, etc. Cue frantic research regarding steeping vs. mini-mashing. There's also some malt syrup and DME and other sugars to add during the boil. Luckily my brewpot is still on its way from Austin so I've got time to do even more homework (here I was thinking 3 months was enough) before I actually brew.
And I did upgrade the the activator pack. I've used those for some mead and cider batches and didn't want to add the new skill of a starter to the process.
Have you ever used one of their kits before? I wish the guy at the store had been a bit more helpful regarding what was in the kit and what I'd be getting into.
I thought I was getting an extract kit (that's what I told the guy who helped me I wanted), but now that I've opened it I'm a bit overwhelmed. There's a good sized bag of grains that need to be steeped at 150F for 30 min and then rinsed with more 150F water, etc, etc. Cue frantic research regarding steeping vs. mini-mashing. There's also some malt syrup and DME and other sugars to add during the boil. Luckily my brewpot is still on its way from Austin so I've got time to do even more homework (here I was thinking 3 months was enough) before I actually brew.
And I did upgrade the the activator pack. I've used those for some mead and cider batches and didn't want to add the new skill of a starter to the process.
Have you ever used one of their kits before? I wish the guy at the store had been a bit more helpful regarding what was in the kit and what I'd be getting into.
It sounds like you got an extract with grains pack. I haven't used any packs like this before bt most if the beer brews I make are extract + grain or mini-mashing. I'm assuming that the grains will only require steeping from the information that you have given but it's hard to say without knowledge of what types of grains are in there.
Do you know if the malt syrup is hopped or unhopped ? Are there hops included in the package ?
Anyway, another method of steeping is to add the grains to water and slowly raise the temperature of the water and grains to about 160F over a period of 30 minutes. This should extract most of the flavour and colour from the grains. The grains will need to be strained and then rinsed with water (again about 160F). The liquid from this will need to be boiled.
Hope that helps and doesn't make it more confusing.
Do you know if the malt syrup is hopped or unhopped ? Are there hops included in the package ?
Anyway, another method of steeping is to add the grains to water and slowly raise the temperature of the water and grains to about 160F over a period of 30 minutes. This should extract most of the flavour and colour from the grains. The grains will need to be strained and then rinsed with water (again about 160F). The liquid from this will need to be boiled.
Hope that helps and doesn't make it more confusing.
Almost every extract kit that I've brewed in the past had specialty grains that needed to be steeped...no real biggie...as a matter of fact the first batch I brewed I put the water in the brew pot dropped in the grain bag and wait on the water to heat to 160F (per the LHBS instructions)...the grain bag actually scorched from contact with the bottom of the pot and burned a hole through the bag, when I pulled it out, the grains all spilled into the pot...not a pretty site...now I use a false bottom, drop in the grain bag, bring the temp up to 155F, shut off the burner and cover...after about 20-30 minutes I pull the grain bag and teabag it in a small pot of 170F water to rinse the grain (less than 60 seconds), pour that in my boil pot and fire it back up.
Also be sure to remove the pot from the heat before adding the DME and extract...stir them in really well then put back on the heat...otherwise you'll scorch them, and that's not a good thing.
You mentioned other sugars to add...what type and how are they added?
How do you plan to cool it?
And if in doubt refer to John Palmers "How To Brew"
Also be sure to remove the pot from the heat before adding the DME and extract...stir them in really well then put back on the heat...otherwise you'll scorch them, and that's not a good thing.
You mentioned other sugars to add...what type and how are they added?
How do you plan to cool it?
And if in doubt refer to John Palmers "How To Brew"
All I do is treat the grain bag like a tea bag. Means I stand over the pot for 30 to 60 minutes but it has worked well for me. The instructions that come with my kits say to crush the grains first, and never boil the grain to keep the temp at about 155. It has worked fine for me with the beers that I have brewed, smells good to...
Just to affirm the previous posts and add a few more points.
As mentioned, it sounds like you have an extract kit with specialty grains. This is very common and actually gives you much of the organoleptic qualities of a mini-mash or even all-grain, but for minimal effort. (Please no flames on that last point: I fully agree all-grain is the way to go to control literally every variable, but for me the added effort is usually not worth it.) As far as technique, tea is a perfect analogy: bring your water to the recommended temperature (typically 150-160°F), place the specialty grain in a mesh bag (or two) and allow it to steep for the recommended time (typically 20-30 minutes). You don't have to really mess with it much, but try to keep the temperature to within a few degrees of the target. After the recommended time, dunk the bag for a couple minutes like a tea bag. Slowly pour a small amount (typically one to three quarts) of separately heated (typically 170°F) "sparge" water over and through the bag to rinse out additional sugars. I put the bag in a colander over the brew pot for this step. Vino's method of dunking the bag in the sparge water is novel to me (sort of an "English Sparge" versus my sort of a "German Sparge") and should work as well depending on the amount of specialty grains involved (some recipes can have a couple pounds or more, others just a few ounces or none at all).
Absolutely turn off the heat as you add the additional sugars (typically dry or liquid malt extracts or even a combination). Stir until you are sure everything is dissolved and then stir some more. Turn on the heat and stir frequently as you bring the wort to a boil (this may take a while). Be careful of it boiling over! This can happen suddenly and will make a huge mess, so be quick to lower the heat. Continue to stir frequently during the boil to avoid scorching especially if you are doing a partial-wort boil or otherwise have a high-gravity wort. You want to maintain a moderately roiling boil.
Follow the recipe as far as hop additions. I recommend using a small mesh bag for them. The hop additions generally fall into three categories: bittering (added near the beginning of the boil), flavor (added with about 10-20 minutes left in the boil) and aroma (added near the end of the boil). You will generally always have bittering hops, but the others are style-dependent. There is also dry-hopping where hops are added after the boil (typically to the secondary fermenter), but that is uncommon for most styles.
Break the "smack pack" several hours before you plan on pitching to allow the yeast to get a good head start. Ale yeast is top fermenting and tends to ferment vigorously, so you may need to be prepared for blow-off. Try to ferment around the middle of the optimum temperature range of the yeast (check the manufacturer's website), maybe a couple degrees lower, but not too low: ale yeast is generally not very cold tolerant.
I recommend [Palmer 2006] as well: it is a great resource.
Finally, never forget the Homebrewer's Mantra:
I like to have beer in the same style as I am brewing and apply the mantra liberally. ;D
References
[Palmer 2006] Palmer, J. 2006. How to Brew. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications.
As mentioned, it sounds like you have an extract kit with specialty grains. This is very common and actually gives you much of the organoleptic qualities of a mini-mash or even all-grain, but for minimal effort. (Please no flames on that last point: I fully agree all-grain is the way to go to control literally every variable, but for me the added effort is usually not worth it.) As far as technique, tea is a perfect analogy: bring your water to the recommended temperature (typically 150-160°F), place the specialty grain in a mesh bag (or two) and allow it to steep for the recommended time (typically 20-30 minutes). You don't have to really mess with it much, but try to keep the temperature to within a few degrees of the target. After the recommended time, dunk the bag for a couple minutes like a tea bag. Slowly pour a small amount (typically one to three quarts) of separately heated (typically 170°F) "sparge" water over and through the bag to rinse out additional sugars. I put the bag in a colander over the brew pot for this step. Vino's method of dunking the bag in the sparge water is novel to me (sort of an "English Sparge" versus my sort of a "German Sparge") and should work as well depending on the amount of specialty grains involved (some recipes can have a couple pounds or more, others just a few ounces or none at all).
Absolutely turn off the heat as you add the additional sugars (typically dry or liquid malt extracts or even a combination). Stir until you are sure everything is dissolved and then stir some more. Turn on the heat and stir frequently as you bring the wort to a boil (this may take a while). Be careful of it boiling over! This can happen suddenly and will make a huge mess, so be quick to lower the heat. Continue to stir frequently during the boil to avoid scorching especially if you are doing a partial-wort boil or otherwise have a high-gravity wort. You want to maintain a moderately roiling boil.
Follow the recipe as far as hop additions. I recommend using a small mesh bag for them. The hop additions generally fall into three categories: bittering (added near the beginning of the boil), flavor (added with about 10-20 minutes left in the boil) and aroma (added near the end of the boil). You will generally always have bittering hops, but the others are style-dependent. There is also dry-hopping where hops are added after the boil (typically to the secondary fermenter), but that is uncommon for most styles.
Break the "smack pack" several hours before you plan on pitching to allow the yeast to get a good head start. Ale yeast is top fermenting and tends to ferment vigorously, so you may need to be prepared for blow-off. Try to ferment around the middle of the optimum temperature range of the yeast (check the manufacturer's website), maybe a couple degrees lower, but not too low: ale yeast is generally not very cold tolerant.
I recommend [Palmer 2006] as well: it is a great resource.
Finally, never forget the Homebrewer's Mantra:
I like to have beer in the same style as I am brewing and apply the mantra liberally. ;D
References
[Palmer 2006] Palmer, J. 2006. How to Brew. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications.
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Ha ha! McEwans! Memories, memories.
Though maybe I'm just lucky that if I want to drink McEwans I just go down the "Offie" and buy a few tins :drunken_smilie:
regards
fatbloke
Wow...thanks for the ton of information and advice everyone! It's great to know that there are so many folks that can offer help as I branch off from mead.
The kit comes with 12 oz of British 55L crystal malt, 2 oz. British roasted barley and 2 oz. of British peated malt. I'm supposed to steep those in 1/2 gallon of water at 150F for 30 minutes. The kit didn't come with a mesh bag and calls for adding the grains directly to the water and then straining them out and rinsing them with an additional gallon of 150F water. This is all followed by the addition (off heat!) of light malt syrup, light DME, corn sugar, cane sugar and East Kent Goldings.
So is it the general consensus that I should find a grain bag for my steeping and then just follow the printed directions as stated? I'm getting a 7 gallon brew pot so I can eventually do full boils, but this kit is designed to be done as a partial 2.5 gallon boil. Since I'm not quite ready to buy a wort chiller (the girl is a bit skeptical of the amount of gear that's made its way into the house before I've brewed a single pint) I'm just planning on cooling in the sink using cool water and ice.
Happy New Year, all!
The kit comes with 12 oz of British 55L crystal malt, 2 oz. British roasted barley and 2 oz. of British peated malt. I'm supposed to steep those in 1/2 gallon of water at 150F for 30 minutes. The kit didn't come with a mesh bag and calls for adding the grains directly to the water and then straining them out and rinsing them with an additional gallon of 150F water. This is all followed by the addition (off heat!) of light malt syrup, light DME, corn sugar, cane sugar and East Kent Goldings.
So is it the general consensus that I should find a grain bag for my steeping and then just follow the printed directions as stated? I'm getting a 7 gallon brew pot so I can eventually do full boils, but this kit is designed to be done as a partial 2.5 gallon boil. Since I'm not quite ready to buy a wort chiller (the girl is a bit skeptical of the amount of gear that's made its way into the house before I've brewed a single pint) I'm just planning on cooling in the sink using cool water and ice.
Happy New Year, all!
I think many on the forums (like me) have come the opposite way, i.e., making beer first and now trying mead. There are many things similar (e.g., sanitation), but many more dissimilar (e.g., nutrient management), so it is a steep learning curve (for me anyway).
Honestly, if you don't have the mesh bags (big one for grain, small one for hops) and you do have the strainer, it is six of one and half dozen of the other. I just find the bags easier to use personally. Pellet hops in particular will disintegrate during the boil, but even if some finds its way into the primary fermenter, it will settle out.
This is fine and how most start out. The key is getting the temperature down as quickly as possible especially through the range from about 90-130°F where wild beasties will love to infect your wort. Absolutely avoid getting anything such as the ice water (usually chock full of bacteria) in the wort.
Back at you! ;D
Some other hints...
Siphon the wort into the carboy. Hanging the hose just inside the mouth of the carboy is fine - it will aerate your wort and it means you won't have to tip the pot and risk losing some wort to spillage. As always, sanitize!
Boiling 5 gallons for a recipe *designed* for 2.5 gallons will mess with the hop efficiency. You won't have the same product, to put it simply. If it was designed for 5 gallons, however, and they simply tell you to boil 2.5 gallons, you will end up with a less bitter and less flavorful (hop-wise) product.
Cooling: Til you get a wort chiller, you will need lots of ice. The easiest option, since you're boiling less than five gallons, is to add ice directly to the wort. Some will object to this, but it has been done successfully. You can also use an ice-bath to cool the pot your wort is in. The easiest thing to do is to get a few bags of ice, fill a sink with water and salt and pour a bag in. The salt will cause the ice to melt and the water's freezing point to fall. Google 'Colligative properties' if you want a full explanation on that part. Anywho, stir the wort, add ice to the bath as necessary. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Think about the temperature of the water you will be adding to the wort to dilute it. If it is hot - boiling or nearly so - it will raise or maintain the temperature of the wort. If it is not, it will drop the temperature. Take this into account when thinking of your cooling strategy.
I'll post up anything I remember later this week. I'm making my fourth and fifth batches of beer this month, along with a goodly amount of mead.
Siphon the wort into the carboy. Hanging the hose just inside the mouth of the carboy is fine - it will aerate your wort and it means you won't have to tip the pot and risk losing some wort to spillage. As always, sanitize!
Boiling 5 gallons for a recipe *designed* for 2.5 gallons will mess with the hop efficiency. You won't have the same product, to put it simply. If it was designed for 5 gallons, however, and they simply tell you to boil 2.5 gallons, you will end up with a less bitter and less flavorful (hop-wise) product.
Cooling: Til you get a wort chiller, you will need lots of ice. The easiest option, since you're boiling less than five gallons, is to add ice directly to the wort. Some will object to this, but it has been done successfully. You can also use an ice-bath to cool the pot your wort is in. The easiest thing to do is to get a few bags of ice, fill a sink with water and salt and pour a bag in. The salt will cause the ice to melt and the water's freezing point to fall. Google 'Colligative properties' if you want a full explanation on that part. Anywho, stir the wort, add ice to the bath as necessary. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Think about the temperature of the water you will be adding to the wort to dilute it. If it is hot - boiling or nearly so - it will raise or maintain the temperature of the wort. If it is not, it will drop the temperature. Take this into account when thinking of your cooling strategy.
I'll post up anything I remember later this week. I'm making my fourth and fifth batches of beer this month, along with a goodly amount of mead.
I object! ;D
I really would recommend against this. Anyone doing this successfully is plain lucky. The only way I would even consider this is if the ice was made with purified water and frozen in a sanitized freezer. I guess you could also overpitch the yeast in the hopes of overwhelming anything introduced, but why take the chance?
[Incidentally, I am on about my 50th batch of beer over three years of homebrewing and have made almost every mistake imaginable, but I have never ever had an infection.]
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I forgot to say, up front, that I don't do that. However, a friend of mine has been using that as his primary wort cooling method. He uses blocks of ice - not cubes - and has made ~20 batches. He's had duds - a Scotch ale that didn't ferment out completely and another one that escapes me. But, no infections.
I spent the money on a wort chiller after my second batch. It worked superbly on my third and will serve me well.
I spent the money on a wort chiller after my second batch. It worked superbly on my third and will serve me well.
Please have him buy me a lottery ticket.
In case you want to upgrade and missed the post, check out Vino's Super-Chiller. It's like something from a Tim Allen wet dream. ;D
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Please have him buy me a lottery ticket.
He's brewing himself into the poorhouse as it is. Every time I go over to his house, I get sent home with six bottles of six brews and the occasional mead, though. I really should reason it out for him - $7 buys a block of ice; $60 buys a nice wort chiller. Ten brews, about his quarterly brewings, and the cost will be covered.
I saw that. Not a bad idea if you have the parts laying around, but otherwise it's a tad difficult to justify housing all of that equipment at this point.
As to how a person would go about making a wort chiller...there're several considerations to be made: First, how much water you can flow. Second, whether you will be recirculating (eg will you need fittings on both ends of the coil). Third, if you'll just be dumping the water, where will it go. There're a lot of other questions you will need to ask yourself and it ends up being easiest to look at the wort chillers on the market to see what standards are.
My coil is ~20ft of 3/8" id copper tubing. The inlet interface hooks up to a standard garden hose; it's a standard plumbing part with a crush gasket and costs $10 or so for the brass version. I run the garden hose off my faucet with an interface piece, also fairly standard. The inlet side dives from the side to near the middle of the pot, then coils around and upward, widening its radius until it reaches the top of the pot. Rather than put another interface on, I simply ran the tube over a foot or so and arched it to face downward. I have a two-sink setup, so it empties into the second sink.
If I were doing it again, I would run about 15' of 5/16" tubing in the same configuration. There would be more coolant-to-tube contact, increasing its efficiency at lower flow volumes. I don't think I would go down another size, to 1/4", unless I had poor faucet pressure.
I thought that might be the case when you mentioned other sugar additions...The only time I would use any sugar other than dry or liquid extract would be candied sugar for a Belgian and occasionally honey when the style called for it.
Adding corn or cane sugar to a recipe as part of the fermentables is a cheap alternative and those that recommend it should not be trusted...IMHO
The only time I use corn sugar is at bottling for CO2 production.
As for chilling, before I made my first immersion chiller, I would set the boil pot literally in the wifes pool and slowly stir it to remove as much heat as possible, then place it into an ice bath...the wife is much happier now that I use a chiller.
I am far from a pro, but with an average of 15-20 batches a year for over 6 years I've learned to use what I had at my disposal, and that rule number 1 is "Sanitize, Sanitize, Sanitize, and when in doubt Sanitize"
Good Luck!
I agree to a point, but it is a legitimate way to increase alcohol without impacting the mouthfeel too much. Does the recipe actually call for the corn sugar's use as one of the fermentables during the boil? I would have guessed it was intended for bottling.
And did you mention sanitizing? ;D
I can't agree with this more. I'm not totally anal about it, i.e., taking it to the point of sterilization, but I do use my iodophor very liberally. Everything and anything that may come in contact with the cooled wort gets treated. But sanitation is one of the processes shared with meadmaking, so it has been a no-brainer for me to just continue my beermaking habit in that regard.
Thanks to all for their input...
I finally brewed today...I didn't clock it exactly, but I have a feeling that it took me the better part of 6 hours...
I had some issues getting the wort up to a boil on the stove. By the time I decided to switch from the one big burner to straddling 2 medium burners, I was half an hour into the "boil"...Other than that and clogging my auto-siphon with hops there weren't any major disasters. BUT, I did remember to get an original gravity reading before I pitched the yeast and all I came up with was 1.024. The kit recipe expects 1.045.
What did I do wrong and how effed is this batch?
Also, how much longer is the lag phase with beers than with meads? I haven't seen any activity yet and I'm freaking out. The smack pack of Scottish Ale yeast totally inflated before I pitched, but I don't know what to expect........
I finally brewed today...I didn't clock it exactly, but I have a feeling that it took me the better part of 6 hours...
I had some issues getting the wort up to a boil on the stove. By the time I decided to switch from the one big burner to straddling 2 medium burners, I was half an hour into the "boil"...Other than that and clogging my auto-siphon with hops there weren't any major disasters. BUT, I did remember to get an original gravity reading before I pitched the yeast and all I came up with was 1.024. The kit recipe expects 1.045.
What did I do wrong and how effed is this batch?
Also, how much longer is the lag phase with beers than with meads? I haven't seen any activity yet and I'm freaking out. The smack pack of Scottish Ale yeast totally inflated before I pitched, but I don't know what to expect........
